Friday, February 26, 2010

2010 Vancouver Olympic Curling

The 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Cheryl and I went up to Vancouver last weekend with her mom, sister and the brother-in-law. Sarah, Cheryl's sis, has a friend who sold us tickets to Curling. Okay, curling, I know, I know ("Canadian Bowling")...but it was really fun and it's the Olympics. We headed up early and left our two boys and Sarah and Mike's twin girls with Daco, aka. Grandpa. He had help from the entire neighborhood stopping in all day to make sure the kids were okay. We made our way across an undelayed border, parked on a cozy side street of south Van., jumped on the underground train to downtown and began to roam the city and people watch. It was great. The Canadian fans were everywhere and very vocal. The city's heart was shut down to traffic and jammed full of people from all over the world. Vancouver is normally a very metropolitan city, but wow, I have never heard so many different languages in one place! The Olympics and the beautiful weather made for an amazing downtown spectacle.These Canadian mitts were the hit of the day. Tons of folks were sporting the red covers and Cheryl just could not pass up these hands, and these two ladies.
We enjoyed the city for a while then headed back via underground train to the curling center. It was a short ride to the station followed by a neighborhood walk to the venue. It was located in the middle of a quite area of houses and surrounded by banners, flags, fences and people.
The lines to get in were long but moving. The security screening was similar to any average airport, and when I reached the metal detectors I chose to surrender my pocket knife instead of hiding it in some one's landscaping and waiting in line again. As we prepped out tickets we noticed for the first time our seat were in Row 1. We would be sitting right up front.Indeed when we found the seats we were seated less then 15 feet from the ice smack dab in front of the US team; who were competing against Great Britain.Cheryl didn't need to zoom in much for the day's photos. We also had the privilege of being next to the US Team skipper's family, and also a very friendly gentleman who helped us through a lot of the more technical points of the sport. Our team did well but in the end was defeated by the Brits by one point.
The Canadian team defeated the Swiss soundly and the place erupted periodically when the Canadians made a good move, even more when the final rock was thrown.
The team from Norway....well the pants say it all. (Click the link for their Facebook.)
It was a great day learning about a new sport and taking in the Olympic games.

...and when we finally noticed who the AP photographer was shooting just a few seats down, we just had to get a picture of him too. He's got a few years on him but he is still the same guy with Olympic medals in the 100, 200, Long Jump, and 4x100.

Tony

Saturday, February 6, 2010

House Updates

The granite counter tops in the kitchen were installed today. In the photo you can see the birch top on the island.
The fireplace slate-work is also done. The grout and fill is a dark charcoal that really brings out a depth in the stone.
The entry way slate tiles, same as the fireplace, were also completed today.
The downstairs bathroom, often referred to as the powder room, also received a granite counter top. It was a "bone yard" piece and has a whole lot of personality.I am tweaking the landscaping as much as possible to help with parking and driveway issues. The backyard seems to be coming together well. All of the plants I ripped out of the ground are either budding (trees and shrubs) or poking out of the ground (tubers, bulbs and corms). It is crazy. Yesterday and today we ran in short sleeves. Did winter ever happen or can we expect a harsh last minute blast? I guess it kinda makes up for last years record snowfall.
That is about it for now.
God bless and Go Saints!! and Payton, and the commercials, and my pico de gayo.
Tony

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Fatality Fire in Edmonds

...I was on the nozzel with my Capitan in the lead. I was assigned to the right hand wall for the search and I found her.
Tony
If you don't have smoke detectors, get some. If you do have them, check the batteries.